Chicken-brooder.



PATENTED MAY 26, 1903.

H. E. BRADSHAW. CHICKEN BROODER.

APPLICATION rum) FEB. 19, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

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UNrrED STATES Patented May 26, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHICKEN-BROODE R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 729,125, dated May 26, 1903. Application filed February 19, 1902. Serial No. 94,777. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUGH EDWARD BRAD- SHAW, of Holland, in the county of Ottawa and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chicken- Brooders; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in chicken-brooders of that kind commonly em-' ployed in connection with incubators for rearing the chickens after leaving the incubator and in which heating pipes or coils are used for supplying the necessary heat to the brooder.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a brooding apparatus made in accordance with my invention with partsbroken away. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section thereof. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a similar section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

The chicken-brooder illustrated embraces,

in general terms, a box or iuclosure which is provided with a top or cover at one end to form a brooding-chamber and is open at its other end to form a runway and also with a partial partition or curtain between the brooding-chamber and runway, together with a heating trunk or compartment provided with heating pipes or coils which extend longitudinally therethrough, said trunk having in its bottom one or more air-inlet openings and at its top openings affording communication between the trunk and the top of said brooding-chamber, whereby the heated air from the trunk is delivered to the top of the br0oding-cha|nber, circulates through said brooding-chamber from top to bottom thereof, and passes therefrom between the partial partition and the bottom of the chamber. A

number of such brooding-chambers and runways will usually be arranged side by side and supplied with heated air from a trunk extending along the ends of the broodingchambers, and a construction of this kind is shown in the accompanying drawings.

As shown in said drawings, A A designate as a whole a plurality of box-like inclosures which are arranged side by side and each divided into a covered brooding space or chamberA' and an open runway-chamberA ,which communicates with the brooding-chamber, said brooding-chamber being separated from the runway-chamber by a curtain B, which depends from the top wall of the broodingchamber. The said adjacent inclosures, containing the brooding and .runway chambers, are separated by single partition-walls constituting the side Walls a of the inclosures.

O designates a transverse heating-trunk which is common to all of said broodingchambers and which is located at the ends of said boxes or inclosures A andextends from one end of the series to the other. Said trunk contains one or more heating-pipes D,extending longitudinally through the trunk, through which is adapted to be circulated a heating medium, such as hot water, steam, or the like. The pipes D may be connected at their ends in a familiar manner to constitute a continuous pipe or coil for heating the air which passes through the trunk. The bottom wall of said trunk is continuous with the bottom walls a of the box A. The side wallsc of the heating-trunk,adjacent to the brooding-chambers, constitute the end walls of said broodingchambers, and the top walls of the trunk are provided with one or more swinging doors 0'', by which access may be had to the interior of the trunk. Said trunk is provided at its bottom with a plurality of air-inlet openings 0 and at the top of its side wall 0 with other openings 0 through which the 'trunkcommunicates with the brooding-chambers. The curtain B, dividing the brooding-chamber from the runway-space, reaches almost to the bottom wall a of the box A. Said curtain is continued rearwardly on each side of the chamber parallel with the side walls of the chamber to form side curtain-walls B of the brooding-chamber proper. Said side curtainwalls are desirably located a little distance inwardly from the side walls a of the box A, as shown in Fig. 3. The partition 0 between the trunk and the chambers constitute the.

remaining ends of each chamber. The lower margin of the curtain-walls are provided with slits b, which render the same more flexible and permit the chickens to easily pass thereunder to and from the brooding-chambers. The tops of the brooding-chambers are closed except for the heated-air-inlet openings 0 so that the air which enters the chambers passes downwardly therefrom and escapes beneath the curtain-walls to the runway-spaces.

As herein shown, the top wall of the brooding-chamber-consists of a door A which is hinged at its forward margin to a horizontal strip A extending transversely across the top of the box A, and to said door A is attached the hanging curtain-walls B B of the brooding-chamber. The top Wall of the box, at the forward end thereof, is omitted, so that the runway-space A is open at its top to the surrounding atmosphere. The front end wall a of the box is provided with an opening a and a sliding door of, through which when the door is opened the chickens may pass outside of the inclosure.

The air-inlet openings 0 of the trunk are preferably arranged in groups, one group for each brooding-chamber, and each group is provided with a controlling sliding valve C Said valve consists of a flat plate having a number of openings equal to the inlet-openings and which are adapted to be brought into and out ofregister with said inlet-openings by moving the plate. Said plate slides in stationary guides or ways 0, affixed to the bottom wall of the trunk. Each of said valveplates C is provided with a handle G which extends through the rear wall c of said trunk and by means of which the valve may be manipulated to vary the size or capacity of said inlet-openings.

The outlet or communicating passages 0 located between each brooding-chamber and the heating-trunk, are controlled by a similar valveplate 0, which slides in horizontal guides or ways 0 affixed to the partitionwall 0. The valve-plates O are herein shown as provided with laterally-directed end portions 0 which serve as handles to efli'ect movement of the valve-plate and stops to limit the movement thereof. Access to the valve C is had through the upper side of the box when the fiap-doors A are opened.

Desirably the heatingtrunk is provided with partial vertical partitions F F, one rising from its bottom wall and the other depending from its top wall or the door 0. The pipes D are located between said partitions, and the partitions are arranged to form an indirect passage by which the air as it passes through the trunk is confined in contact with the heating-pipes D.

In the use or operation of the apparatus described hot water, steam, or other heating agent is passed through the pipes D to heat the interior of the trunk C, and the valves 0 C are opened to permit the air to pass upwardly through the bottom wall of said trunk and the runway spaces or chambers.

around the pipes D and outwardly from said trunk through the opening 0 into the top of the brooding-chamber. The warm air passes downwardlyinto and through said broodingchamber and thence out of said broodingchamber through the space between the curtain-walls B 15 and the bottom wall a into the runway-spaces A ,from whence it escapes. The curtain-walls B B serve to confine the heated air within the brooding-chambers and to diffuse said air throughout the same, so as to maintain the air in said chambers in a uniformly-heated condition. Owing to the fact that the incoming air is supplied to the heating-trunk C at the bottom thereof and is released or discharged therefrom into the brooding chambers at or near the top of the same and the brooding-chambers and to the further fact that there are no exit-openings in the tops of the chambers for the escape of such heated air the entire volume of said air which passes into the brooding-chambers is forced downwardly therethrough and outwardly therefrom beneath the curtain-walls B B and into the runway-space A In' this manner a positive, circulation of the heated air is maintained through the brooding-chambers, and liability of a reversal of the air-current, permitting cold air to pass from the runway-spaces A into the brooding-chambers, is avoided. I am enabled, therefore, by the use of the construction described to maintain an efficient circulation of pure air through the brooding-chamber, so that the chickens, while being kept sufficiently warm,will be in no danger of sutfocation through absence of a constant supply of pure air.

Said brooder as a whole will in most instances be located in a suitable building, so as to protect the chickens from the weather when occupying the runway-chamber A and to enable the brooding-chambers to be sufficiently heated during cold weather with an economical use of heat. The brooder may in some instances, however, be located in the open air, and such location will not be objectionable during reasonably warm weather or in warm climates. When the brooder is located in a building, the floor of the building may constitute the bottom walls or floors of the heating-tru nk, the brooding-chambers, In such casethe floor may and usually will be raised a distance from the ground, so that the outside air may reach the inlet-openings c of the trunk from the space beneath the floor. Moreover, the side walls of the building in which the brooder is located may constitute the end walls a of the runway chambers or spaces, so that the chickens may be allowed to pass through the openings or doors a directly to the outside of the building. When the brooder is made a complete structure in itself and is placed in a building, the inletopening 0 of the trunk will desirably communicate with an air-passage leading from outside the building, whereby a constant supply of pure air to the brooding-chambers is assured. The supply of air to said inletopenings 0 when the brooder is located in the open airis provided bysupporting the brooder with its bottom wall or floor a distance above the ground or other supporting-surface.

The features of construction hereinbefore described are manifestly applicable to a single brooder or one consisting of asingle compartment or inclosure, it being of course un derstood that in such case the heating-trunk would need to be adapted for supplying warm air to the single brooder only, instead of several, as shown in the drawings. Asingle heating-trunk arranged for furnishing warm air to a plurality of brooders arranged side by side, as shown in the drawings, in itself, however, constitutes a novel feature in devices of this class and is herein claimed as part of my invention.

1 claim as my invention 1. A broodercomprisingabox-likeinclosure containing a covered brooding-chamber and an open runway which is separated from the broodingchamber by a partial partition or curtain, a heating-trunk located adjacent to and at the side of the chamber remote from said runway, and a heating pipe or pipes in said trunk, said trunk being provided with one or more air-inlet openings and with one or more outlet-openings at its top communieating with the top of the brooding-chamber, the walls of the brooding-chamber adjacent to the top thereof being closed against the passage of air and the air entering the chamber at the top thereof and passing downwardly through the brooding-chamber and being discharged into and through the runway.

2. Abrooderoomprisingabox-likeinclosure containing a covered brooding-chamber and an open runway which is separated from the brooding-chamber by a partial partition or curtain, a heating-trunk located adjacent to and at the side of the chamber remote from said runway, a heating pipe or pipes in said trunk, said trunk being provided with one or more air-inlet openings and with one or more outlet-openings'atits top communicating with the top of the brooding-chamber, the walls of the brooding-chamber adjacent to the top thereof being closed against the passage of air and the air entering the chamber at the top thereof and passing downwardly through the brooding-chamber and being discharged into and through the runway; and a valve for controlling the entrance of air to said heating-trunk.

3. A brooder comprising a box-like inclosnre containing a covered brooding-chamber,

and an open runway which is separated from the brooding-chamber by a partial partition or curtain, a heating-trunk located adjacent to and at the side of the chamber remote from said runway, a heating pipe or pipes in said trunk, said trunk being provided with one or more air inlet openings and with one or more outlet-openings at its top communicating with the top of the brooding-chamber, the walls of the brooding-chamber adjacent to the top thereof being closed against the passage of air and the air entering the chamstitutes the end wall of the brooding-chamber,-

and the top wall of which is at the same level with the top of the brooding-chamber, and a heating pipe or pipes in said trunk, said trunk being provided with one or more air inlet openings and the wall which separates it from the brooding-chamber having one or more openings at its top.

5. A brooding apparatus comprising a plurality of box-like inclosures arranged side by side and each containing a covered broodingchamber and an open runway which is separated from the brooding-chamber by a partial partition or curtain, a heating-trunk common to all of said brooding-chambers and located at the side of said chambers remote from said runways extending along the ends of the said inclosures adjacent to the brooding-chambers, and having its top wall at the same level with the top of the brooding-chambers, a heating pipe or pipes extending horizontally through said trunk from end to end thereof, said trunk being provided at its bottom with one or more air-inlet openings, and at its top with outletopenings communicating with the tops of said brooding-chambers,and valves for controlling said outlet-openings.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 15th day of February, A. D. 1902.

HUGH EDWVARD BRADSHAW.

Witnesses:

HENRY GEERLINGS,

BENJ. N EERKEN. 

